Vox pop

People have every right to criticise politicians, they can’t be stoppedThis refers to Barkha Dutt’s article To each his own (Third Eye, November 24). In this age of social media, section 66A of the Information Technology Act is archaic and flawed. It is appalling that the Act is being use to muzzle people for making the slightest criticism be it in the form of cartoons or Facebook posts. The fact that the Supreme Court has accepted a PIL seeking amendments to the Act underlines the urgency about stopping its misuse as we recently witnessed. People are within their rights to criticise politicians and the intolerance of dissent is against the tenets of a democratic society. Subhash Vaid, via email

He did very little for MumbaiNamita Bhandare’s He has had the last laugh (Another Day, November 25) is right in saying that in death, people have ceased to be objective about Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray. He cultivated the image of the saviour of the Marathi manoos, though he did precious little for Mumbai except its cosmetic re-naming. His divisive politics helped neither the people of Maharashtra to progress nor those from the other parts of the country.Vijai Pant, via email

IIThe recent misuse of section 66A of Information Technology Act is a multi-layered problem. First, social media in India is at nascent stage and the police are ill-equipped to deal with problems arising from its widespread use and popularity. Second, ambiguously worded laws governing social media leave too much room for interpretation. Besides amending the laws, we also need to make our citizens aware of their social media responsibilities. Social media is powerful tool with far-reaching influence and thus it must be used but not abused. SK Patro, via email

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